The Bangles combined the chiming riffs and catchy melodies of British Invasion guitar pop with a hint of the energy of new wave. In the process, they became one of the handful of all-female bands of the '80s to win both critical and commercial success. The critical success came first – with their self-titled debut EP and full-length album, All Over the Place – and popular success arrived once they polished their sound, added some synthesizers, and deviated slightly from their trademark jangling guitar hooks. Once they were selling at the platinum level, the Bangles didn't stay together long, but they left several pop gems in their wake.

When Gretchen Wilson released One of the Boys in 2007, she took a left turn and offered as many ballads as she did straight contemporary country-rockers. The album didn’t sell as well as its two predecessors. Wilson went into the studio and cut I Got Your Country Right Here two years later – producing it with Blake Chancey and two tracks with John Rich. She felt it reflected her live shows better than her previous recordings did and would connect better with her audience.

The Empire Brass adds a drummer to its lineup for CLASS BRASS–FIREDANCE, another collection of classical popular hits by one of the world's most renown brass ensembles. Empire is well known for its reliable interpretations of pieces such as Ravel's 'Boléro,' which leads off this collection of primarily dances.

Freddy Kempf is a fast-rising young star of the piano literature known for his outstanding virtuosity and independence. Any complaints about Kempf's music-making concern the issues of mannerisms and characterization. Unfortunately, these complaints rear their heads in Kempf's new Bach recording of two of the six keyboard partitas. First, the good stuff. Kempf has 'flying fingers' and an overall technique that is very impressive; just listen to his dynamic accounts of the Gigues from each Partita.

Accardo's performances are nothing short of spectacular, and (the late) Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus's performances never disappoint. Most classical audiophiles may be familiar only with Bruch's first violin concerto and the "Scottish Fantasy," but there are two more wonderful violin concertos, a Romance, a Konzertstuck, a Serenade, a piece entitled "Adagio Appassionato" and a piece that was new to me, "In Memoriam," a very beautiful and moving composition that is the last band on the last record.

Whatcha Gonna Do is a solid set of folk with a strong dose of bluegrass and country, sweetly sung by Claire Lynch and delivered with low-key assuredness by her band. While she did write or co-write four of the songs, Lynch is here more an interpreter of work by others. A few of the writers she covers are quite prominent, with Bill Monroe's "My Florida Sunshine" getting a less all-out bluegrass treatment than most would bring to it, and Jesse Winchester dueting with Lynch on his "That's What Makes You Strong."

A major departure from Claire Martin's previous efforts, Take My Heart marked the first time she recorded an album that had very little to do with jazz. The British singer had never been a jazz snob; she always had a healthy appreciation of rock, pop and R&B. But jazz was her foundation – if she interpreted a Tom Waits or Stevie Wonder song, she did so from a jazz perspective.

Well, I've been well and truly Claire Martinned - and it's a good thing to be, I can tell you. With these four from the ‘nineties, which I hadn't heard before, plus the five that I already had, I thought I might have the Linn CM output so far. But I discover that there are a couple more I have to catch up with. With Claire having been showing British female jazz singers how to do it during two decades now, the nineties were her ‘early years', and this package, ranging from her Waiting Game debut (1992), through Devil May Care (1993), Old Boyfriends (1994), to Make This City Ours (1997), provides some intriguing insights.

For this hybrid SACD of famous organ works by J.S. Bach, Masaaki Suzuki plays the restored Schnitger-Hinz organ in the Martinikerk (Martin's Church), in Groningen, one of the most celebrated instruments in the Netherlands and one which dates back to Bach's time. Its bright, Baroque sonorities and Suzuki's historically informed interpretations give these performances a compelling sense of authenticity and period style. The pieces are among Bach's greatest hits, particularly the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which gives the program a decisive opening. Following that flashy demonstration, Suzuki is relaxed and almost contemplative in the Pastorale in F major, and continues his thoughtful readings in the Partita on "O Gott, du frommer Gott," the Prelude and Fugue in G minor, and the Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her." Yet he includes two sparkling virtuoso performances in the Fantasia in G major and the Prelude and Fugue in E minor, which keep the album from being too soft and subdued. BIS' super audio sound is crisp and detailed, which is no mean feat in a church recording.